I left the house at about 7:45a and realized before I left that I had an almost empty tank. Well that works… I was hungry. So heading to the gas station in Goshen, I swung into the diner and had a ham and swiss omelet. I charged up with some coffee and downed the omelet. I went next door to the Mobil and filled up and prepped for the road. I officially left at 8:40am.
I headed west on the 17 that I know so well and hit 84 east to the NYS Thruway.
Heading north on the Thruway (87), Blue Sapphire snuck through the turbulence of the other vehicles, especially the trucks.
“Wow”, I thought, “It’s been along time since I’ve really been on this motorcycle!” I was tuned in on the Ipod, moving up the Thruway (the New York Thruway is really nothing more than a toll road that has exits only every 20-40 miles or so. When you hit traffic, you are stuck!). Driving the TrailBlazer, I usually run about 80-85 but I began out slow, about 65 to get a re-establish the highway feel. Over about 20 miles, I began to increase the speed and found myself cruising at 80mph. She winds up a little at that speed but she has no problem holding it. I remember thinking that with everything that has been going on in my life and the load from class, I felt like a dry sponge to water, soaking up every mile of the road.
Cruising down the center lane (David Hough, the motorcycle skills writer, feels strongly that the center lane is the safest lane to cruise on the highway in), I escaped a bogey at 2:00... “Is she switching to my lane? Does she not see me? I am right here!!!!” Obviously not! I quickly switch to the passing lane to avoid interaction with the cager.
Because the exits are so scarce on the NYS Thruway, I filled up at the New Baltimore rest stop. I later found myself behind a flatbed truck hauling hay at 60mph, a disaster waiting to happen. I quickly passed the truck to avoid eating grass.
As I passed Saratoga Springs I thought about my exit not being too far off in the distance, exit 23, US9. “Wait!!! I need a root beer at the A&W in Lake George!!!” I jumped off exit 21 to A&W. As I approached the A&W Drive in, there was a vehicle audio competition at the convention center. I noticed because of their marketing ploy; lightly (and not in contrast) dress young ladies out near the street. It almost worked but the last thing I needed was to listen to some bass hip-hop escaping out of cars. Besides, my ears were killing me due to the earphones. They did not work too well, causing irritation primarily my left ear. I arrived at A&W at 11:15am, 2:35 hours later and 165 miles later @ an average of 60mph. Since the A&W was a drive in, I parked the ACE a little off and walked to the window.
“Can I get a root beer?”
“Yes, but you need to go to the take out window”
“Oh, sorry. Thanks!”
I’m a little out of sorts from being on the road I suppose. I went to the take out window. The same girl as from the other window was waiting.
“Can I get a medium root beer?”
“Sure.”
I saw her grab the Dixie cup, load it with ice and begin filling the cup.
"Excuse me, you guys don't use the frozen mugs anymore?"
"Yes, but you need to sit at one of the tables"
"Well, I'll head there now"
The same girl was my waitress.
She dilivered an awesome frozen mugged root beer. yummmmy. If you are ever in the Lake George area, you must swing by. The mugs use to look different, they were hexagon shaped at the bottom.
Do you remember the A&W root beer drive ins? I was introduced to them as a young boy. I remember my uncle Gehrig taking Shannon (my brother, not sister!) and I to the A&W in Muncie, Indiana during our summer visit. Ironically, Gehrig also introduced me to the chevy El Camino that I so adore today. The drive in would freeze the mugs before pouring the root beer in. I remember they actually had a ‘kids size’. I noticed this drive in a number of years ago when I wwas up there. Once we took Robby (my son) there for lunch so that he too could have a similar experience. He ate such a large soft ice cream cone that he ALMOST threw it up, over filling himself. I later added some chicken tenders, grabbed another root beer and wrapped up.
I grabbed another sight of the 'friendly looking' girls in front of the convention center, bit down on my palm the way Squiggy (from the 70's show Laverne and Shirley) use to, threw silicone earplugs in my ears (due to the earphone irritation), and headed out.
